Ferdinand & Miss Rumphius

Our FIAR book this week was The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf. It's an older book and a very sweet story about a good-natured bull in Spain that just wants to sit under a cork tree and smell the flowers. I remembered the book from when I was younger and Aidan really enjoyed it. It was another age-appropriate selection for us.

On Monday, for social studies, we visited the library and checked out a book about Spain to study. We also listened to some fun Spanish music and watched some flamenco dancing videos. For language arts, on Tuesday, we learned about interjections. We printed some drama cards for art on Wednesday and Aidan acted out some events in the story. Thursday, for math, we learned about measuring in feet and inches.

Yesterday, for science, we learned about cork oak trees. We made a cool cork trivet with some old wine corks I saved when Matt and I were just dating. I'll admit, when I started saving wine corks from special occasions, I never thought they would be used for homeschool science projects!

Last week, we studied Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. A young girl narrates the story of her great-aunt's life and the remarkable things she has accomplished. It was a great springtime selection and we had nice weather for some great outdoor activities. We discussed the importance of finding and doing special work and made a little booklet detailing the special work that Aidan could do. We did some painting for art and practiced counting for math. For science, we made a seed book and scattered some wildflower seeds around the edges of our yard. We didn't plan quite as many activities as it was a busy week for us. Matt took Aidan to work for a few hours for Take Your Child to Work Day and that was BIG FUN for both of them!

April Showers...

This week's Iron Craft Challenge (#18) was "April Showers..." and the flowers they bring. So far, around here, April showers have mostly brought May showers (and mud). Still, I decided to make something fun and flowery for Adelaide. I know spring just HAS to be coming soon!

I found some pretty little flowers at Joann's that I decided to turn into hair clips. I just covered some alligator clips with pink ribbon and glued on the flowers. They were simple and quick. I think they'll make a fun springtime accessory.

Mr. Gumpy and Some Ducklings

I'm a little behind in our weekly school wrap-ups. My mom came for a visit and then we travelled to Ohio for Easter. We managed to fit in most of our school work; but, my blog was definitely neglected. We've had some great story selections over the past few weeks. I honestly think that Volume II of FIAR has more age-appropriate books for us than Volume I.

The week of April 11, we used the book Mr. Gumpy's Motor Car by John Burningham. The book tells the story of Mr. Gumpy's outing and the many friends that come along for the ride. Aidan really enjoyed the book and we found some great activities to go along with it. For social studies, we discussed being social. This is definitely not an area where Aidan needs any more encouragement! Our language arts lesson focused on making preparations for an outing. For art, we studied and practiced drawing different textures. Simple multiplication for math and some science experiments with friction and traction rounded out the week.

For Easter week, we studied Robery McCloskey's Make Way for Ducklings. Our social studies lesson focused on family relationships and "nesting". We talked about all the ways we have been preparing for the new baby that will arrive in a few weeks. For language arts, we practiced rhyming. For art, we made brown pencil sketches like those used to illustrate the book. More multiplying and grouping work was our focus in math. We also filled our week with lots of egg decorating and quite a few egg hunts!